A few months later, autumn began...
Song Yan also started to wander around the deep mountains, sometimes learning about the outside world through the conversations of villagers in small villages.
He learned quite a bit about the Crimson Palace Realm through Old Grandmother Fox.
The main thing was the source of "blood."
Killing a person, even if it's a cultivator at the Crimson Palace Realm, cannot obtain the essence blood within them.
And what Old Grandmother Fox offered him was only the "Multi-tailed Fox Essence Blood" of her own race.
But Song Yan had no immediate plans to place the "Multi-tailed Fox Essence Blood" in the "Left and Right Two Palaces."
Firstly, through Old Grandmother Fox, he learned about the importance of "essence blood combination." A good combination can put one at a crushing advantage in magical battles of the same realm.
Secondly, once "Multi-tailed Fox Essence Blood" is placed in the Left and Right Two Palaces, the power it can exert is only sixty to seventy percent of its original, and "Three-tailed" might even turn into "Two-tailed."
Thirdly, after Old Grandmother Fox became a ghost, she told him a lot. One thing is that "Central Palace Essence Blood" can continue to be refined. The method of refining is by extracting similar blood, but the number of refinements is limited, generally in single digits, some people only three or four times, others as many as eight or nine times, varying from person to person.
Previously, she was raising fox cubs to breed strong ones through the nurturing method, and then she would have them devoured to refine the blood. As for the ability to "give birth to fox cubs," it was due to the blood in her other palace called " Pig Queen Ant," whose characteristic, to put it bluntly, is "eating human flesh and bearing offspring."
Since the "Central Palace Essence Blood" could be refined, Song Yan naturally held onto a sliver of hope: by killing Multi-tailed Foxes, extracting their blood, refining it, and transforming "Three-tailed" into "Seven-tailed."
As for why seven tails?
Because in Old Grandmother Fox's impression, the strongest of the "Multi-tailed Fox Race" is the Seven-tailed.
Nine-tailed?
That is a legendary count.
...
...
Today, the leaves fell in chaos, and autumn rain was bleak.
As usual, Song Yan casually patrolled at the mountain's edge.
However, the village's communication was closed-off, with some villagers having never been farther than the nearby small county, treating cultivators as nothing but ethereal immortals, tales from afar.
Even if Song Yan were here, he couldn't gather any useful information.
Through Old Grandmother Fox, he also learned the origin of "Changwang Tiger Race Essence Blood."
In short, the Mountain and Sea Demon Country, though called a country, is more like an alliance of demon races.
And the "Changwang Tiger Race" originally ruled over the "Multi-tailed Fox Race" and "Corpse-Eating Wolf Race."
But the Fox and Wolf Races had long plotted to revolt when the Tiger Race was injured, suddenly launching a coup to annihilate the Tiger Race and devour their essence blood.
They succeeded, and yet they failed.
The success was that they indeed wiped out the "Changwang Tiger Race."
The failure was that... they couldn't capture the "Changwang Tiger Race" essence blood.
The Great Demon King of the Changwang Tiger Race destroyed his entire race.
Leaving only a small cub...
The cub had no essence blood, so it was raised with the Fox Race, meant to be slaughtered when older, the distribution of essence blood and common blood to be decided by the Fox Demon King.
Old Grandmother Fox wasn't guarding the cub but unexpectedly found an opportunity to escape with the "Changwang Tiger Race" cub.
Then... because the tiger cub resented the Fox and Wolf Races, it saw the unfamiliar human Song Yan and voluntarily gave its essence blood to him.
That's how it happened.
Old Grandmother Fox planned to escape using the ancient teleportation array.
But she didn't know where that ancient teleportation array led, and was even unsure if "that teleportation array wouldn't lead to the Mountain and Sea Demon Country."
Isn't this nonsense?
Song Yan was determined that unless all hope was lost, he wouldn't gamble his life using that teleportation array.
Just then, his gaze suddenly shifted to a certain spot.
This path, not really a mountain road, he had traveled many times before, and today... there was a corpse on the slope not far away.
A man's body, plump, of average appearance, stripped of clothes, with a deep wound in the chest, the blood almost entirely drained...
Song Yan swiftly approached, raised a finger, and performed a quick soul search.
The body is dead, but the soul lingers for seven days.
Judging by the appearance of this fresh corpse, there must be memories.
Scenes of memory fragments flashed through.
Song Yan roughly understood.
This man was named Li Fusheng, a merchant from the Northern Land.
Currently, the Northern Land was in great chaos as the Jin Kingdom had completely swallowed Wei, under the guise of "pleasing the Immortal Sects and eradicating demons," extorting money and taking women everywhere, leaving the people in misery...
As a result, Li Fusheng took all his wealth, his wife, and loyal servants and fled south.
Upon reaching here, the loyal servant claimed to know a shortcut to a stable city.
Li Fusheng listened to this.
As a result, in the desolate mountains, the loyal servant ended his master with a single knife from behind, then took the master's money, stripped off the master's clothes, and ran off dragging the mistress.
Song Yan pondered slightly.
Wealth and such, he didn't care, but from Li Fusheng's information, he could tell that "the Fox and Wolf Races hadn't come over yet," because the timing when the great fox grandmother stole the tiger cub was perfect. It's estimated that the fox demon guarding the tiger cub was still covering this up, desperately searching for the tiger cub, and thus hadn't fully exposed...
On the other hand, in Li Fusheng's luggage, there were genuine household registration certificates and passage documents.
Considering Li Fusheng's appearance was also exceedingly ordinary, with no particular features...
Song Yan had an idea in mind.
Staying in the deep forests and old woods like this was not a solution. While the Fox and Wolf Races hadn't yet come looking, he would assume an identity to gain a foothold in a mortal town, and then make plans.
He quickly buried Li Fusheng, then extended his divine sense, scanning the surroundings, and found traces of movement around, which he then pursued.
...
...
A moment later... ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveIＦire.net
A ghost appeared on the black spot on Song Yan's back and then disappeared again, as if sinking into "water."
The servant's body lay to the side, while a somewhat beautiful young woman was weeping and begging for her life.
"I only did it to survive.
If he killed the master, and if I didn't follow him, I would die too..."
"Spare me, I'm willing to do anything, absolutely anything."
Saying this, the woman hurriedly unbuttoned her clothes with one hand, while reaching for Song Yan's hand with the other, intending to guide his hand to her chest.
However, Song Yan had already learned the truth from the soul search of that servant.
It was merely a story of "the master taking a concubine, the concubine becoming the wife, the wife eloping with the servant, framing the master."
He paused not because of this, but because he felt the "Divine Soul of the great fox grandmother" stirring restlessly.
The divine soul at the Crimson Palace level is different from ordinary people and Refining Profound cultivators; it can seize a body.
The great fox grandmother could possess this young woman.
'Master, I want to possess it.'
'This can't be done.'
'Does Master still worry that I might harm you?'
'No, you are at the Crimson Palace level; although you can possess a body, you can only do it once.' Song Yan replied.
The great fox grandmother was overjoyed: 'Master, you mean you actually want to help me possess a Refining Profound cultivator with decent aptitude?'
Song Yan said: 'Let's see the opportunity.'
The great fox grandmother immediately sank again.
Song Yan then raised his hand to kill the woman, proficiently capturing her soul, turning it into a ghost slave.
Subsequently, he changed his outfit, took the passage documents, household registration certificates, and so on...
The place Li Fusheng was originally going to was called Hanlin City.
It is a place, though barren, far from disputes.
And the place Song Yan planned to go was south of Hanlin City — Chao Li County.
Before leaving, he took the "Skinning Experience Notes" that Master Shi had previously given him, the "Hundred Forms Divine Control," the "Little Five Elements Silk Binding Hand," the "Skin Painting Soul Summoning Technique," and burned them to ashes, then buried them at a scenic spot, erecting a stone tablet with the words "Rest in Peace."
Great fox grandmother had searched Stone Seat Elder's soul, thus becoming Song Yan's ghost slave; naturally, Song Yan understood his teacher more deeply, knowing that while he was sincerely good to him, he also had genuine harmful intentions.
Previously he only suspected, now he had confirmation, and felt deeply moved.
At this moment, burning the books into dust, burying them underground, was akin to an eccentric tomb of clothes and crown.
"You were a good teacher..."
"You not only taught me magic but also showed me the deceitful hearts of people in the Cultivation Realm..."
"The last words you called out before dying 'avenge me' were probably not meant for Junior Sister Wang to hear, were they?"
"But how could you not see? Junior Sister Wang would never avenge you."
"Never mind, your divine soul has long flown away, I wish you well on your journey, become a craftsman in your next life... don't become a cultivator."
...
...
More than half a month later...
Chao Li County welcomed a Lord Li.
Lord Li came from the Northern Land, encountered bandits on the way, and both his wife and servants perished.
He set up a tomb with clothes and crown for his wife, wailed for a while, then took over a butcher shop, started raising pigs, slaughtering pigs...